Continuing our eSIM podcast series, this time we talk to Thales, one of the eSIM provisioning landscape leaders according to Counterpoint’s CORE report. Being in the industry for over 30 years, Thales has played a foundational role in organizations like Trusted Connectivity Alliance (TCA). Thales also deployed the world's first GSMA-certified eSIM activation solution on Google Cloud.

Thales adopts a hybrid architecture, combining the benefits of public cloud and private cloud for operational excellence and security. It also offers a wide range of activation methods for the consumer market, thus enhancing the end-user journey through various channels. Thales’ strategic focus is on providing eSIM services with a comprehensive portfolio, addressing both consumer and IoT markets, eSIM discovery service, real-time profile adaptation and supply chain optimization.

In the latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Ankit Malhotra is joined by Pascal Di Girolamo, Marketing Director at Thales, to talk about eSIM innovations, digital security and more that Thales is working on. The conversation dives into the challenges faced by the eSIM industry, including the need for enhanced customer awareness and a seamless transition from M2M to IoT. Pascal also emphasizes the importance of certification and collaboration with partners like Qualcomm, and much more.

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You can read the podcast transcript here.

Podcast Chapter Markers

00:58: Pascal on Thales’ reaction after learning that it had emerged as a leader in the eSIM provisioning landscape in the CORE report.

01:56: Pascal gives a brief introduction of what Thales does and its journey in becoming one of the industry leaders.

09:38: Pascal talks about some of the major trends we have seen in the eSIM industry over the past few years.

13:51: Pascal on eSIM-only smartphones, and how the 2022 iPhone 14 launch was an inflection point.

15:51: In 2023, eSIM-only iPhone 15 was expected in more regions, but that did not happen. Pascal talks about possible reasons behind it.

18:18: Switching gears to IoT, Pascal talks about the new SGP.32 standard.

20:17: Pascal highlights some of the challenges faced by the industry currently.

24:00: Pascal talks about the differences between eSIM and iSIM.

26:24: Pascal concludes the podcast with his thoughts on the commercial availability of iSIM, industry trends, and expectations for 2024.

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